1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a playback apparatus and a playback method which are capable of varying, by the setting by a user, a resumption of playback method for a recording medium in which a plurality of data files and management information for managing the data files are recorded, and also relates to a recording and playback apparatus and a recording and playback method which are capable of varying, by the setting by a user, a data file which is played back after the data file is recorded in a recording medium in which a plurality of data files and management information for managing the data files can be recorded, and a playback start position in the data file.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, small recording media having incorporated therein, for example, a solid-state storage device, such as a flash memory, have been made, and dedicated drive units or drive units which are incorporated into an audio/video apparatus, an information apparatus, etc., have been developed so that computer data, still image data, moving image data, music data, audio data, etc., can be stored. As media for recording music data, media, such as CDs (compact discs), MDs (Mini Disks) (trademark), are conventionally in common use, and recording and playback are possible by a CD player and an MD recorder/player.
In a system in which, for example, a CD or an MD is used, music data is recorded by forming one piece of music in one track, and further, management information called a TOC (Table of Contents) is recorded on that medium, and thereby management is made so that tracks can be sequentially played back in a predetermined sequence. Normally, a track number is assigned to each track, and in the TOC, the address of a recording position is managed for each track number. In the playback apparatus, by referring to the TOC, each track is played back in the sequence of track numbers.
Normally, when a user performs a playback operation, tracks are sequentially played back from the starting track number. That is, the playback start position is the start position which is a starting address of the start track in which the track number is 1.
However, for a playback of a program, etc., there are cases in which a user may want to temporarily stop a playback in the middle of a piece of music and thereafter, to start the playback from that stopped position. For this reason, in a conventional CD player or an MD player, in what is commonly called a xe2x80x9cresume functionxe2x80x9d, the following function is added such that when a playback operation is performed, a playback is started from the position at which the playback was stopped previously.
This resume function improves the ease of use for users, and for a playback operation, there has been a demand for further ease of use to meet demands of users. For example, there is also a demand for users, after playback is stopped in the middle of a particular piece of music, to play back a piece of music from the start position of that piece of music rather than from a position at which it was stopped. Also, there is a demand for a piece of music, after recording is performed, to be played back from the track which is recorded or from the start of that piece of music. of course, in addition to this, there often occurs a case in which, during playback, it is desired to perform a playback from the position related to a playback or recording (or sound recording) operation immediately before it.
However, in order for a user to perform a playback from a desired playback start position, which cannot be realized by a conventional resume function in a manner as described above, it is necessary to select a track number or to perform FF (Fast Forward) or REW (Rewinding) after a playback operation, and this is complicated.
An object of the present invention is to perform a playback, when resuming a playback, from a position at which a data file is recorded in a recording medium was stopped by recording the position of the recording medium at which stopping was instructed in a case where stopping of the data file was instructed while the data file recorded in the recording medium was being played back.
Another object of the present invention is to start a playback, at the time of a playback, from a predetermined position of a predetermined recorded data file by storing a recording position of the predetermined recording data file in a case where a data file is recorded in a recording medium.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a playback apparatus for performing a resume playback which resumes a playback from a predetermined position of a predetermined data file of a storage medium in which one or plural data files are managed in accordance with management information, the playback apparatus comprising: playback means for playing back a data file stored in the storage medium; operation means by which a user selects and sets a predetermined resume mode from a plurality of resume modes, each of which instructs a playback start from a different playback start position in accordance with a playback starting instruction after a playback is stopped; storage means for storing playback start position information on a recording medium, which information corresponding to a predetermined resume mode which is set by the operation means; and control means for controlling the playback means so that a playback is started from a predetermined position of a predetermined data file on the basis of the resume mode which is selected and set by the operation means from among a plurality of resume modes, resume start position information stored in the storage means, and the management information.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording and playback apparatus for performing a resume playback such that a data file is recorded in a recording medium in which a plurality of data files can be recorded together with management information, and a playback is started from a predetermined position of a predetermined data file after the data file is recorded in the recording medium, the recording and playback apparatus comprising: recording means for recording a data file in the recording medium; operation means by which a user selects a predetermined resume mode from a plurality of resume modes, each of which instructs starting of a playback from a different playback start position in accordance with a playback start instruction after the recording is terminated; storage means for storing at least a part of management information of a data file which is recorded in the recording medium; playback means for playing back a data file which is recorded in the recording medium; and control means for controlling the playback means in such a way that control is performed so that a data file is recorded in the recording medium by the recording means, a part of management information for the recorded data file is stored in the storage means on the basis of a resume mode which is set by the operation means and thereafter, a resume playback is performed from a predetermined position of a predetermined data file on the basis of the management information stored in the storage means and the resume mode which is set by the operation means.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a playback method for performing a resume playback which starts a playback from a predetermined position of a predetermined data file on the basis of a stored content of storage means for storing playback start position information regarding the position at which a playback is started from a recording medium in which one or plural data files are managed and stored in accordance with management information, the playback method comprising the steps of: selecting a predetermined resume mode in accordance with instructions from a user from a plurality of resume modes, each of which starts a playback from a different playback start position in accordance with a playback start instruction after the playback is stopped; and reading and playing back a data file from a predetermined position of a predetermined data file on the basis of a resume mode which is selected from the plurality of resume modes, playback start position information stored in the storage means, and the management information.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording and playback method for performing a resume playback such that a data file is recorded in a recording medium in which a plurality of data files can be recorded together with management information, and a playback is performed from a predetermined position in a predetermined data file on the basis of the contents of storage means in which a part of the management information is stored after the data file is recorded in the recording medium, the recording and playback method comprising: a selection step for selecting a predetermined resume mode in accordance with instructions from a user from among a plurality of resume modes, each of which instructs starting of a playback from a different playback start position in accordance with a playback start instruction after the recording is stopped; a recording step for recording an input data file in the recording medium; a storing step for storing, in the storage means, a part of management information for managing data files which are recorded in the recording medium; and a playback step for playing back a data file from the recording medium in such a way that a resume playback is performed from a predetermined position of a predetermined data file on the basis of a part of the management information stored in the storage means and the resume mode selected from among the plurality of resume modes.
The above and further objects, aspects and novel features of the invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.